Bowie Park
by wevegotdodgson
Summary: Featuring mysterious encounters, spirited conflict, crystal ball fantasties, a lackey for Jareth, predators in the dark, and action under the ground of the Underground.
1. Jareth Pines

Summary: Sarah takes a stroll in Bowie Park and dreams of Jareth. An adventure through the Underground ensues. 

Author Notes: Thank you to Kelsey, our beta, and Alex for helping us out along the way.  
  
Bowie Park

by Gizzard and Gullet  
  
CHAPTER 1: JARETH PINES  
  
King Jareth gazed out of his high palace window, his thighs perched precariously on the stone sill. He had been waiting for his love. As his eyes roamed over his domain, he searched desperately for Sarah's dark head weaving in and out through the labyrinth walls. Yet Jareth knew that he would never see the sweet face of his beloved again. Her passionately furious gaze would never again grace his halls, but was imprinted upon his mind forever.  
  
Sarah sipped her chocolate shake as she strolled down the avenue to Bowie Park, the fateful place where the owl had appeared to her first. Her dog walked beside her.   
  


"Merlin," she called, "come along." Ahead of her lay a sloping hill that led down to a pond. A willow tree's graceful branches hung over the water like the protective arms of a lover. Sarah felt the urge to lie down and close her eyes, and did so without hesitation. As her head gently rested on the ground, she peered thorough the gently moving branches. The sweetly swaying leaves brushed her ivory cheek, and as her eyes fell shut, she thought she saw the white fluttering of a winged creature...  
  
_She found herself in an ocean of green. It took a moment for her to realize that she was in fact in a forest of huge trees. She heard the gentle cracking of twigs behind her and spun around on her booted heal, nearly loosing her balance. Fortunately, a pair of strong, sinewy arms broke her fall and she was suddenly gazing into the piercing stare of King Jareth. His gaze devoured her mercilessly and her thoughts were overwhelmed with bewilderment, fear, and a faraway sense of longing. The scent of moonlit silver encompassed her. She felt the violent urge to run away, but she found herself unable to move an inch. The feel of his fingertips on her bare arms burned; his very touch ignited a fire within her.  
  
_

_"Sarah," he said, and his low, arrogant voice made her shiver in delight... or was it apprehension? She didn't have time to decide before he continued. "I've been waiting so long." His voice sank to a whisper. "I see we've been strangers till now." He paused. "But..."  
  
_

_"But what?" Sarah breathed, almost against her will.  
  
_

_"But I need you." She could barely hear his voice over the murmur of wind in the trees. Though her mind was clouded by his commanding presence, a wrench in her heart reminded her of the pain she had suffered at his hands, and she knew deep down that this man was not to be trusted.   
  
_

_"No..." Sarah stammered and broke his gaze and his firm grip for the first time. She willed her feet to run, and was relieved to hear the crunch of her heals upon the dirt. She felt a trickle of blood on her dark brow as a thorny branch left its mark. As she fled, she heard Jareth's cry and then heard no more as she crashed through the underbrush._  
  
Her eyes opened to the dark branches of the willow. They swayed and sighed in the wind as though they were trying to tell her something. She sat up slowly and looked around. Brushing a strand of hair from her face she felt something cool and sticky on her fingertips. Holding them up to her face, she saw moonlight reflecting on a dark red smear. She was bleeding.  
  
Everything had been real, she realized with a start. Then, she remembered that as she had closed her eyes, she had glimpsed a familiar flapping of white downy feathers. Jareth had been there with her.   
  
She needed to get out.   
  
Sarah leaped to her feet and rushed to the footpath. As her eyes searched the horizon, she heard the song of crickets. Dusk hung over the park like a cloak of velvet. For a moment, she lost herself in thoughts of romantic strolls and chaste kisses under the Brobdingnagian night sky.   
  


Suddenly, rough hands grabbed her from behind. She opened her mouth, but found her scream stifled by calloused fingers that smelled of fish grease. The oil smeared across her cheeks, and she gagged. Hot breath invaded her ear and she felt moisture on the side of her face as her assailant snarled and then spoke. "I wa' ma'ey!"   
  


In the midst of her frantic struggle, Sarah tried to make sense of his babbling. She felt one of his large hands moving over her hip and felt a moment of panic before she realized that he was reaching for her pockets.   
  
"Ma'ey, ma'ey..." He stammered desperately and she felt a pain in her neck. Then it hit her, as chilling and piercingly as the splinter of trout bone he had just spat onto her. He wanted her money. She wrestled a hand free and dug into her pocket to extract the few coins she had left after buying her chocolate shake. Something brushed against her hand as she withdrew it and Sarah saw a small white feather fall softly form her pocket to the ground.


	2. Allusions

Bowie Park  
  
by Gizzard and Gullet  
  
CHAPTER 2: ALLUSIONS  
  
With the money in her hand, Sarah struggled to turn and give it to her attacker. But he didn't understand and grabbed her by the hair, his rough fingers digging into her scalp and his fingernails scratching bloody furrows. Her shriek of pain and desperation rent the night air like the talons of a captive owl as her head was jerked back.  
  
Panicking, Sarah twisted away. Her assailant fell to the right as she stumbled to the left. But suddenly she felt his grip tighten and she was pulled abruptly backward.  
  
From the corner of her eye she saw a shadow swooping across the pavement. Through a haze of dizziness and pain, Sarah witnessed the lengthening of the shadow into something sharp, dangerous and man-like.  
  
Suddenly, the mugger's maniacal grip slackened and his hands slipped away from her throat and hair, leaving a trail of grease as they went. He grunted in surprise and as his foul fishy stench evaporated, Sarah realized he had fled. When she turned to discover what larger threat had scared away her attacker, it was all she could do not to flee herself. There before her, resplendent in a glittering glow that seemed to precede him, stood Jareth, King of the Underground and Lord of all Goblins.  
  
His calfskin boots, knee-high and the palest gray of mourning doves, sheathed his well-muscled calves. Above the shredded leather tassels on the cuffs of his boots, his ebony breeches sparkled suggestively. They were a strange garment, well worn, and had cleaved to their handsome mold with the aid of use. His metallic belt buckle flashed in the distant starlight, like the shimmer of waves on a rolling black sea. Hard armor glinted on his chest as he shifted his weight from one foot to the other, giving rise to a glimpse of a dark high-necked tunic. A high collar encircled his proud neck in a shroud of glitter and gossamer. The cloak spiraled in the breeze, oozing whispers to the silence, sweeping round his chest with silken gauzy shreds that spurred Sarah's memory and stirred visions of a stormy sky and a drowsy baby; it was a distressing reminiscence. A neck like carved marble peeked from within the folds of his cloak, leading up to a chiseled jaw- line and the suggestion of a mocking smile. His high cheekbones sliced the air around him and his well-shaped aristocratic nose sat smugly beneath his determined brow. But it was his eyes that unsettled Sarah the most; it was from his eyes that his power came. Like two orbs branding her soul, his intense stare held her fast to her spot.  
  
Holding her gaze, Jareth leaned forward and gently put his mysteriously ungloved hand to her face. A cold sensation started at her cheek where his fingers touched and sizzled down her spine. But just then, she heard the soft pounding of gigantic paws and jerked her head around. Bounding towards them, quiet as a shadow, Sarah saw Merlin coming out of the trees.  
  
*Allusions to Macbeth and Harry Potter and the Prisoner of Azkaban 


	3. Jaded Jareth

Bowie Park  
  
by Gizzard and Gullet  
  
CHAPTER 3: JADED JARETH  
  
Jareth's hand trembled minutely on the shapely plain of Sarah's fair cheek. He allowed it to dropped like an overripe apple from a withered tree. The gesture surprised Sarah, and she felt a trace of disappointment. Jareth took a step back and a shadow darkened his visage. But Sarah had no time for contemplation; Merlin had reached them and was circling Jareth nervously, fiercely growling in her direction. Sarah suddenly realized that she had forgotten completely about her dog. Where had he been?  
  
"Your dog has been telling me secrets." His low voice carried clearly across the gap between and she struggled to meet his sagacious gaze. He was looking at her askance. "In fact, I've been hearing about you quite often."  
  
"What do you mean," she stammered. His smiled mocked her. "What have you done to Merlin. What have you done to my dog?"  
  
"Nothing, at least nothing permanent. Why the question is, what has your dog done to you?" Sarah couldn't contemplate what Jareth's words meant. She told herself that she had to be on her guard. She knew the king was capable of lying to her and she did not trust him. "You see, your dog has been helping me for some time now." The edge of his cloak fluttered in the swift night breeze. "It is only now that my plans have come together so precisely." Butterflies took flight within her stomach. Yet somewhere in the depths of her being, she managed to bring fourth a smidgeon of courage.  
  
"Leave me alone!" She tilted her chin defiantly. "I defeated you. You can't say that I didn't. You," she said realizing the words as she spoke them, "don't have power over me. And you never will." She caught sight of the white feather that had fallen from her pocket, walked over to it and crushed it under her heal. She stifled a momentary twinge of regret at the way things had turned out. Then she looked back at Jareth.  
  
The Goblin King was completely unfazed. "What's said is said, Sarah, though you may regret it." He raised his eyebrows in a gesture of enticement, but Sarah perceived it as intimidation.  
  
She took a step backwards, away from his lingering stare. Yet before she could get away, a gloved hand gripped her wrist, and Jareth pulled her close. The smell of leather and jasmine enveloped her senses, and her dream came back to her as clear as daylight. Paralyzed with fear, Sarah could not break the hypnotic gaze of the Goblin King, as he pulled her into his arms.  
  
"Now Sarah," he purred, " I have you in my grasp. You shall not escape from me as easily this time." A dull roar began to build up within her ears, and Sarah's sense of the world around her melted together in a swirl of earth and night sky. Only Jareth's eyes were clear and she dared not break the gaze, for fear of losing herself. The irony of her utter dependence on the man she dreaded most struck her, like a hammer on gold, as the dull roar grew into a wild cacophony of sound.  
  
Then everything stopped.  
  
Sarah fell forward into Jareth's cloak and allowed his arms to fold around her. There was no other choice. She felt her eyelids droop and close over her tired eyes; the last thing she felt was an arid breeze stirring her hair gently and the smell of sand and acrid dust. She was in the Underground. 


	4. To the Accidental Antipode Abode

Bowie Park  
  
by Gizzard and Gullet  
  
CHAPTER 4: TO THE ACCIDENTAL ANTIPODE ABODE  
  
Sarah opened her eyes and saw black. It seemed that only a few seconds had passed since she had fainted. Her lips moved soundlessly. Her knees buckled, but she didn't fall back. Slowly she became aware of a ring of strength holding her upright. Arms, she realized, as strong as stone. She put up her hands and shoved hard on Jareth's chest. As she stumbled backwards she realized that he now wore a cape of downy, white feathers, and that her face had been buried in them. She shook her head and spat them out of her mouth. Jareth reached to brush them out of her hair, but she hit his hand away.  
  
It took a moment for realization to sink in. Sarah had dreamed of the Underground so often since her return that it was hard to decifer between her dreams and the harsh reality. Yet with King Jareth standing at her side, and her long dark hair blowing gently in the dry breeze, she knew that this was no dream. Before her stretched the vast and weaving walls of the Labyrinth. Memories came flooding back to her mind, memories of an endless trek through the maze in search of a stolen baby. It was not a pleasant reminiscence.  
  
"Pleasant memories?" Jareth's dry voice cut through her thoughts and rage swept over Sarah like sand blowing over sharp stone.  
  
"How dare you bring me here. I decided long ago never to come here again!" She met his gaze defiantly.  
  
His eyes were jewels, dark and enticing and sharp. Despite the desert heat, Sarah shivered.  
  
"Ah, but Sarah," Jareth replied in a purr so low that despite her anger Sarah leaned forward unconsciously to hear. "I'm hoping to persuade you otherwise. Poor girl," he mocked, eyes flashing. "So naïve. I'm taking you somewhere to open your eyes to both your world and mine."  
  
"You won't take me anywhere. Except home," she added quickly, anxious that he would take her words at face value. Sarah turned from him, her hair whirling around in a cloud of anger and frustration. "You have no right to keep me in the Underground."  
  
Jareth turned and began walking. They stood on sandy plateau. Red stone and prickly grass dotted the landscape. The sky above was as the she remembered it: orange, cloudless, and dry. Everything in the labyrinth was dry, she thought, The eternal sunset reminded her of the panic she had felt the last time she was here, and narrowed her eyes.  
  
"Come Sarah, we must make it to the Antipode before nightfall." Jareth's swift legs had carried him a significant distance down the path. His cape fluttered in a hot updraft. Through her anger, Sarah felt the tug of curiosity at his last words. She had never heard of an "antipode" before and wished to know what it was. She would not, however, ask Jareth for fear of sounding too interested.  
  
After briefly considering whether or not she could let him walk away and navigate the outskirts of the Labyrinth alone, she realized that she would not get home without a goblin king to lead the way. Without a backward glance, Sarah hurried to catch the long shadows of Jareth's well-muscled legs.  
  
Unlike her initial assumption that he would lead her directly into the Labyrinth, Jareth passed the entrance and they began a trek around the outside of the wall. The king did not say another word; even if Sarah had wanted to ask about the Antipode, she would have received no response.  
  
The sun was just beginning its decline into vibrant shades of red and orange when Sarah saw the king stop at the top of the sand dune in front of her. As she came over the crest, Sarah saw a sight that made her stop in her tracks. In front of them stood an enormous tree, standing alone in the sea of sand. It seemed to glimmer in a mirage of every color imaginable. The setting sun lent some of its arrogant colors to the tree's rich canopy of gracefully drooping vines and leaves. As Sarah watched, the tree sparkled with yellows and greens, then switched to pinks and blues, and finally settled on shades of violet and crimson. Yet as she watched this amazing phenomenon, Sarah realized that only the leaves held color. In the sunset, the space revealed by the gently moving vines was completely dark. Sarah could not tell if it was the sunset that intensified the shadows, or if this was the way the tree truly appeared. There was something eerie about it that she could not quite put her finger on. It was almost as if the tree held some permanent enchantment that would last until the end of time. Sarah suddenly realized how frightened she was and that she did not wish to go any further.  
  
Yet as soon as she made this realization, Jareth quickened his confident stride forward toward the magical tree. He must not be afraid of anything, Sarah thought with a twinge of admiration, which she quickly regretted. She understood that she was utterly dependant on King Jareth and she cursed herself for allowing this to happen again.  
  
"This is the Mirage Portal," said Jareth over his shoulder. His skin gleamed golden in the dying light. "Follow me through." He suddenly disappeared beneath the leaves and vines that hung down so thick they served almost as a wall. Sarah realized with a start that the colors emanating from the leaves had truly been a mirage and that up close the leaves were brown and dead. A chill crept up her spine, yet she knew she had no choice but to follow the king's lead. Taking a breath and closing her eyes, Sarah stepped forward and felt the shockingly cool leaves brush against her temple. She had expected them to be crisp and flaky, as dead leaves often are. Instead they held a cool, smooth sheen that felt like water trapped in leather. Then she sank.  
  
Before she knew it, Sarah was waist deep in whirling sand.  
  
Quicksand.  
  
She tried to get up out of it, but the more she struggled the more it grasped at her body, pulling her under. In a second the sand had reached her chin and then her whole head was under. Panic gripped Sarah's heart and she could not breathe. Tiny grains of sand wrapped around her face so that her eyes and ears were completely swathed. She let loose a scream, but her mouth was muffled and no sound save the deadly pouring of sand around her could be heard.  
  
Then she felt something guiding her downwards, something like a rope pulling in her clenching fists. It was the same feeling as the tree's leaves, a smooth sensation that sent waves up her arms to calm her nerves. She allowed this "rope" to lead her downwards, farther and farther. Then there was a crack of light, and Sarah fell through an opening in the ceiling of a small dimly lit room, right into Jareth's waiting arms. 


	5. Ticking Diamond

Author's Notes: In this chapter, we decided to have a bit of fun and split up the load. Gizzard, Gullet and our illustrious beta, Kelsey, each wrote a crystal ball scene. (Leave a review and guess which is whose!) Have fun! Author's Note the Second: We accidentally posted a version of with one scenario repeated and another left out completely. Sorry! This is the chapter as it was meant to be.  
  
Bowie Park  
  
by Gizzard and Gullet  
  
CHAPTER 5: TICKING DIAMOND  
  
Sarah was on her feet again as quick as she could jump away from Jareth. She could feel sand in her hair, but as she looked around the small chamber she saw that there was not a trace of sand on the floor. Even the hole she had just fell through had sealed up again quickly and there was no trace of a massive root system leading up to an enormous tree just feet above them.  
  
"I see you are wondering where we are," Jareth commented lightly from beside her. "This is my Antipode Abode. We are not in the Underground any longer. We are beneath it, or, should I say, opposite to it."  
  
"I don't understand. What is the Antipode and why have you brought me here?" Sarah dusted herself off distractedly as she gazed fiercely into his eyes.  
  
"Have I not just explained the Antipode to you? We are in an opposite world to the Underground. As for your second question, you will find out right now. Come." Jareth led Sarah out into a dimly lit corridor made of sparkling silver stone. Shadows filled the air around them and as Sarah turned, the space behind her was completely dark. The light seemed to only stretch in a bubble around them, as if Jareth carried a torch down a pitch- black hallway. Despite her anger with the king, Sarah stayed close to the tips of his billowing cloak, for she did not wish to lose herself in the darkness.  
  
Jareth led her through a huge wooden door with a circular copper doorknob, green around the edges. Suddenly a white light cut into her vision and she blinked quickly to wait for her eyes to adjust. The large chamber they were now standing in was completely opposite from the hall outside: light, glittering, and sterile. The stones embedded in the wall were completely white, glinting silver from time to time. On a ridge running completely around the circular room stood hundreds of white candles, spaced evenly from one another. In the center of the room, Sarah saw a most peculiar structure. It seemed that hundreds of elegant human hands sprouted up from the ground, swerving around each other in a confused pile of limbs. At the top several hands, larger than life and clad in black leather gloves, twisted around to form a circle orbiting constantly at a slow pace. In each hand there lay a crystal ball. Sarah suddenly remembered the balls Jareth had used when she had been the in the Underground before. Her eyes widened in apprehension, for she also remembered the power of the crystal balls, and how the king had used them to control her mind. But suddenly, something began to change. Her senses grew numb and her conscience dimmed as if someone had turned the light knob down from high to low.  
  
Sarah felt the urge to walk slowly around the room towards the mysterious hands. When she had reached one ball, the orbiting slowed to a halt. Her hands moved to rest upon the nearest ball as though pulled by a magnet. A tingling sensation overwhelmed her senses and the white room began to blur together around her. From a distance she heard Jareth's low voice. Now, Sarah, look into the ball and see what you could have had, what you could have been, had you not rejected my offer...  
  
***  
  
After what seemed a few minutes later, Sarah opened her eyes. The brilliant, harsh light had receded, leaving dancing black spots in her vision. Feeling rather dizzy, Sarah glanced around, slightly wary of what would come next.  
  
"Wait a minute..." Sarah whispered. "I know this place."  
  
Bending down to peek over the side of the stairway, Sarah's thoughts were confirmed as she gazed at the upside-down stairs of the Escher Room.  
  
Knowing the one person who could help her in this rather... confusing, yet strangely not unpleasant situation, Sarah called out a name.  
  
"Jareth."  
  
No answer.  
  
She had expected this; after all, he relished the game of cat and mouse didn't he?  
  
"Jareth, where are you?" she said.  
  
No answer.  
  
Starting to become a little frightened and more than just a little angry, Sarah began to march down the stairs, looking for the person who had brought her to this room.  
  
"Jareth, where are you!"  
  
When no answer came yet again, feelings of despair threatened to creep over her body.  
  
'I don't understand, he is supposed to be here, with me....' Her traitorous heart whispered.  
  
Shaking her head clear of such dangerous thoughts, Sarah moved to walk to the ledge when soft tinkling noises echoed around the walls. Looking around, she noticed a small crystal ball rolling towards her at a steady pace.  
  
"What on earth?"  
  
Sarah leaned down to inspect this unexpected surprise, when the crystal burst, showering her with tiny, white feathers and causing her to fall on her back.  
  
Sarah gasped as the feathers magic took a hold of her body...  
  
Almost immediately Sarah began to feel her anger, despair and fear evaporate from her body. All of her inhibitions and doubts vanished and as Sarah sat up she met the dual-colored eyes of the one person who, she now realized with a shock that resounded down her spine to her toes, made her heart sing.  
  
"Feeling...refreshed?" The regal king asked, a wry grin upon his face.  
  
"Quite," Sarah replied, as she struggled to her feet. "So much, in fact, that I think we should play a game."  
  
"Oh?" Jareth questioned.  
  
"Yes, a game of my choice, with no cheating or any of your other little tricks. No breaking the rules," Sarah emphasized, poking him in the chest to show that she meant business.  
  
Grabbing her wrist, Jareth pulled her close, watching and relishing as her eyes widened at his unpredictable actions.  
  
"But Sarah," he purred. "Breaking the rules is ever so much fun."  
  
Struggling to maintain control, Sarah covered her embarrassment and awkward longing by glancing to the side.  
  
"Nevertheless, this time we play by my rules," Sarah retaliated once she had regained her breath. "Got that, Goblin breath?" Sarah retaliated, hoping beyond hope that he would let her go lest she grab His Majesty by the royal neck and kiss him.  
  
"Such a pity...All right, I will acquiesce to your request. No rule breaking-- goblin's honor," Jareth said, loosening his hold on her waist.  
  
"Wonderful," Sarah murmured. "The game is simply this—Hide and Seek."  
  
"Hide and what?"  
  
"Hide and SEEK," Sarah answered. "It's really quite simple, you count to one hundred, and then come and find me. You can do that, right?" Brushing up against him oh-so-seductively, Sarah turned her back on him.  
  
"And remember," she warned, glancing over her shoulder. "No magic. Now close your eyes and count."  
  
She waited until his eyes were covered before she raced to the stairway and made her way up. Closing her eyes, she walked over the edge and waited for the dizziness of being turned upside down to subside. Resuming her search for a hiding spot, Sarah found a shadowy nook around the corner, and made sure that she was well hidden in the darkness.  
  
A minute later, Sarah heard Jareth begin to move around the stairs. Repressing the urgeto giggle, Sarah forced her thoughts on how ironic and yet, so much fun, playing with Jareth was. She recalled Jareth's last words before she had come to this room with a start.  
  
"Maybe I was wrong to have labeled him as such a villain. Maybe he really was serious when he offered me my dreams..."  
  
Her thoughts spiraled out of control as Sarah remembered how she had felt dancing in his arms, seeing him again for the first time in so long, and finding him here, in the Escher Room, playing Hide and Seek of all things with her. "Am I falling in love with Jareth?" Sarah pondered quietly. "Or, a better questions would be, am I already in love with him?"  
  
Becoming so preoccupied with her thoughts, she didn't realize that Jareth was near until he pounced on her, evoking a small scream.  
  
"A-ha!" he crowed, triumphant in his discovery.  
  
"Hey! That's not fair!" Sarah cried as she tried in vain to regain her balance. "How did you find me so quickly?"  
  
"You forget, darling, that I have excellent eyesight in the dark." Jareth said.  
  
Sarah was about to reply when she suddenly realized that Jareth was on top of her, pinning her to the floor.  
  
Slightly breathless, Sarah whispered, "I guess you won then, didn't you?"  
  
"Mmmhmm," Jareth murmured, slowly running his hands through her hair. "I guess I did. What's my prize?"  
  
"Your prize?" Sarah asked.  
  
"Mmmmhmm," Jareth said again, this time tracing the features of her face with his leather encased fingers.  
  
"Well, I suppose your prize could be..."  
  
Sarah trailed off as she forgot what she was going to say, and found that her hands had wound their way through the soft, silky strands of Jareth's hair. Desire flamed in the Goblin King's eyes as he momentarily hovered his lips above hers.  
  
"I've been waiting for this for so long," he whispered.  
  
"Me too."  
  
No longer able to wait, Jareth lowered his head to kiss her lips.  
  
Sarah was floating; amazed at how tender the kiss was when she started to feel an immense pressure building inside of her.  
  
Breaking the kiss, Sarah cried out in pain." What's happening to me?"  
  
Sarah watched in horror as Jareth faded in and out as her dream world began to fade.  
  
"No! I don't- -"Suddenly her voice was pulled from her mouth, and the rest of her words went unspoken. Sarah tried to touch Jareth's cheek but her hand had already vanished. Sarah closed her eyes as her fantasy disappeared and darkness consumed her.  
  
***  
  
She had floated away, far away. However, when she looked around, she realized that she was still in Jareth's castle, still back in the Underground. Turning her head slightly she was suddenly in an elegantly clad chamber. A large canopy bed with a glistening gauzy white veil hanging over the sides sat snuggly up on a platform in the corner. A huge wardrobe sat next to the bed, and from its open doors spilled several beautiful dresses. At an ivory vanity across the room lay a hundred pieces of glistening jewelry, all ready for her to try on. Sarah turned her head again and suddenly she was in front of the vanity, gazing into the mirror. She had been dressed already in a gown of silken snow-white. Her long dark hair had been spun up elegantly, a few ornaments peeking from within the dark locks. Her ears and neck were laden with diamonds, which sparkled enticingly from their positions. Her cold stare took all the beauty in and a sense of longing gripped her heart.  
  
Then Jareth appeared in the mirror behind her shoulder. His strikingly handsome features were uplifted in a small, satisfied smile. "You are lovely, my queen. You smell of wintergreen and snow. Yet you melt my heart every time I set my eyes on you." He took hold of one of her gloved hands and turned her to face him. For one instant Sarah gazed into his eyes, and there she saw a raw love, a force that burned deeply down into her own heart. It was an experience she had never had before. He had never gazed on her in that way.  
  
Before Sarah could comprehend anything more, a white light shone behind Jareth and his face was cast into shadow...  
  
***  
  
Sarah stepped through a curtain of cold and felt her clothes fall away. She looked down and saw water, white waves with frosty crests, spreading away from her at neck level. Water fell around her on all sides, though its origin was too high for her to see, and within a few seconds her hair hung damply on her cheeks and neck from the humidity. Light hit the surface and reflected back to the waterfalls so that rays of silver shone and sparkled from all sides.  
  
It was silent. Sarah ran her arm through the water just to hear the sound. It was cool on her skin where she was still, warm when she moved. Steam rose from the path of her arm.  
  
The silence was broken by a sound to her right. She let her arm sink back to her side and turned, slowly. Jareth, eyes closed, stood nearly motionless eight feet away.  
  
He moved his arms through the water, fingers spread, in a gesture that surprised Sarah in its openness and playfulness. Not that she hadn't known he was playful, of course, but his games had always been infused with a streak of maliciousness. His face was peaceful and lit by the diffused light; waves lapped gently against him. The difference in their height was greater than she had supposed; the water only reached to his chest. Droplets hung from his eyelashes and the humidity, instead of adding weight to his hair, froze so that it glimmered icily. He smiled and stopped his hands in front of him.  
  
"Marco."  
  
Sarah grinned—she couldn't help it—answered, "Polo," lowered herself until the water touched her lips.  
  
Jareth listened for her movement and his mouth, still curled slightly in amusement, opened in concentration. Sarah didn't realize she was staring. He took a step forward, and she moved away.  
  
"Marco."  
  
Sarah looked around quickly before responding and ducking under the water. She shot to the side and swam a couple of strokes before stopping and kneeling beneath the surface. When enough time had gone by she popped her head above the water, yelled, "Polo," swam quickly in the other direction, surfaced triumphantly and looked around—  
  
--directly into Jareth's eyes, still closed, two inches away from her own.  
  
Sarah pressed her lips together and stood as still as she could. Seconds passed. More seconds, during which neither of them moved. Sarah stopped breathing when she realized that her breaths were pushing icy strands of his hair back and forth. The water she'd disturbed stilled and the room was silent again. Jareth's lips parted.  
  
"Marco," he said, stretching the word and ending it on a whisper. He opened his eyes. "Polo," he answered at the same volume. "Found you." He moved closer to her and tilted his head.  
  
"Am I going to lose you again?" His voice was low. She swallowed.  
  
"Never," she said, and her voice, though faint, did not tremble. Never, she repeated to herself; never. Never.  
  
The sound of the falling water rushed into her ears and the floor gave out from under her. The water was hot on her feet as she sank...  
  
***  
  
Sarah heard frantic rushing, water rushing past her ears, though she felt nothing. She kept her eyes closed against the water, and moved her head slightly, questing, to hear the regular throb beneath the rushing. It grew louder as soon as she concentrated and she realized, suddenly, that it was more than a distant rhythmic suggestion. It was the origin of sound, and it was ticking.  
  
Sarah opened her eyes and stared into bright, blazing light.  
  
"Step back," said a voice somewhere behind her. She stepped obediently, and gasped.  
  
Thousands of gleaming facets confronted her, shining and flashing and piercing her eyes, moving slowly in an impossibly intricate dance.  
  
"It's a diamond," she said stupidly.  
  
It sat in the right hand corner of her vision, before an infinite, all- encompassing field of bright circus yellow. The ticking she had heard wove itself into the diamond and she soon realized it had been the diamond ticking all along. As she watched, the shape split itself into two, and the new diamond was closer to her than the one before. She felt herself shift around in position and she was suddenly seeing the two diamonds from a different angle. Then they split again and now there were several diamonds all around her. The ticking filled Sarah's ears, poking them and howling violently, so that she winced in pain. The she panicked. She needed to get out of the yellow dimension in which she stood. But she was not standing anymore. Her feet lifted from the floor and she was startled to realize that she was floating. If I could only jerk my head forward, she thought with desperation, and break that yellow barrier. But as she pulled her head back, a pair of gaping jaws swam into her view from afar and grew larger until they were as big as her own head. They began laughing at her maniacally, and she screamed.  
  
Then she jerked back and fell, hitting a barrier that crashed and jingled when it broke beneath her. She landed on the floor of the Antipode Abode. The smell of damp stone and old glass reached her before she blacked out. 


End file.
